Computational fluid dynamics simulation of WEC in … | Program Name or Ancillary Text eere.energy.gov Computational fluid dynamics simulation of WEC in focused waves Water Power Technologies

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Computational fluid dynamics simulation of WEC in focused waves

Water Power Technologies Office Peer Review

Marine and Hydrokinetics Program

Wave Energy Converter Modeling

FOSWEC wave tank testing and WEC-Sim simulation

Yi-Hsiang Yu

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

[email protected], 303.384.7143

February 14–16, 2017

2 | Water Program Technologies Office eere.energy.gov

Project Overview

Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Modeling:

Empower the advancement of WEC technologies by enabling the efficient,

accurate prediction of power performance and extreme loading to inform structural

design and risk reduction through the development and validation of a suite of

open-source design and analysis tools (WEC-Sim), open-access validation

datasets, and an extreme condition modeling (ECM) framework and toolbox.

The Challenge: WECs are typically made up of multiple bodies and are designed

to maximize their relative motion at dominant sea states (as resonant devices),

resulting in complex nonlinear hydrodynamics, particularly during extreme sea

states.

• Uncertainty in predicting WEC performance is increasing the uncertainty for

WEC design optimization and wave energy cost estimation.

• Uncertainty in designing WEC devices to survive extreme conditions is slowing

the pace of technology development and increasing the investment risk.

Partnership

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (PI: Yi-Hsiang Yu)

• Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) (PI: Kelley Ruehl; CO-PI: Ryan Coe)


Technology

Maturity Deployment

Barriers

Crosscutting

Approaches

• Enable access to testing

facilities that help

accelerate the pace of

technology development

• Improve resource

characterization to

optimize technologies,

reduce deployment

risks, and identify

promising markets

• Exchange of data

information and

expertise

• Identify potential

improvements to

regulatory processes

and requirements

• Support research

focused on retiring or

mitigating environmental

risks and reducing costs

• Build awareness of

MHK technologies

• Ensure MHK interests

are considered in

coastal and marine

planning processes

• Evaluate deployment

infrastructure needs and

possible approaches to

bridge gaps

• Support project

demonstrations to

reduce risk and build

investor confidence

• Assess and

communicate potential

MHK market

opportunities, including

off-grid and non-electric

• Inform incentives and

policy measures

• Develop, maintain, and

communicate our

national strategy

• Support development of

standards

• Expand MHK technical

and research

community

Program Strategic Priorities

• Test and demonstrate

prototypes

• Develop cost-effective

approaches for

installation, grid

integration, operations

and maintenance

• Conduct R&D for

innovative MHK

systems and

components

• Develop tools to

optimize device and

array performance and

reliability

• Develop and apply

quantitative metrics to

advance MHK

technologies

Market

Development


Technology

Maturity

• Test and demonstrate prototypes

• Develop cost-effective approaches

for installation, grid integration,

operations, and maintenance

• Conduct R&D for innovative MHK

systems and components

• Develop tools to optimize device

and array performance and

reliability

• Develop and apply quantitative

metrics to advance MHK

technologies

Project Strategic Alignment

The Impact

• Provide the WEC industry with a set of

customizable open-source WEC performance

and extreme loading analysis tools/datasets to:

- Reduce WEC design uncertainty, improve

power performance, and improve survivability

in extreme conditions

- Accelerate pace of WEC technology

development with reduced investment risk

• The final products are validated, open-source,

WEC simulation tools, open-access validation

datasets, and documentation. Products can be

used and customized to meet industry needs.


Develop a set of open-source tools that are validated and customizable to meet users’

needs, used to analyze WEC power performance, and predict the extreme loading on the

system under critical wave environments

• WEC-Sim code development: Simulate WEC devices comprising rigid bodies (multi-body

dynamics), power-take-off systems (PTO-Sim), and mooring systems (MoorDyn)

• WEC-Sim validation testing: Perform wave tank test and develop an open-access

validation dataset

• ECM workshop and technical meeting: Exchange experience with the WEC community,

understand current challenges, and investigate potential pathways to solve the challenges

• ECM framework and WEC Design Response Toolbox (WDRT) development: Include

relevant toolsets and numerical strategies to more accurately and efficiently evaluate system

design loads

• Dissemination and community support: Lead public training courses and webinars, and

manage online Q&A forums to assist the WEC community’s utilization of models and

methodologies

• Industry support projects: Work with industry developers to improve their devices’ power

performance and survivability by implementing WEC-Sim, the ECM Framework ,and the

WDRT

Technical Approach


Accomplishments and Progress (WEC-Sim)

WEC-Sim development and release (v1.0 in 2014; v2.1 in 2016)

Used by the WEC community to simulate WEC dynamics and reduce WEC

design uncertainty and improve power performance

• Helped Wave Energy Prize contestants (5/9 of the finalists) to analyze and

improve their designs during the competition

• Large-scale adoption by industry/academia/researchers domestically and

internationally, notably:

Award:

Won the 2015 International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic

Engineering (OMAE) Center for Ocean Energy Research Competition (COER),

established the team as the world leading modeling expert in the field

WEC-Sim numerical model of the experimental testing

WEC-Sim win at OMAE COER

coding competition


Accomplishments and Progress (WEC-Sim)

Completed WEC-Sim validation wave tank testing

• An open-access validation dataset was developed and is

available via the Marine and Hydrokinetic Data Repository

• The multi-body WEC testing experience was invaluable

and will help reduce technical barriers for WEC

developers during future wave tank testing

Participating/leading the International Energy Agency Ocean Energy Systems Task 10

• This task on WEC modeling verification and validation will internationally assess the accuracy and

establish confidence in the use of numerical models for WECs.

WEC-Sim training courses/webinars:

• Four training courses were held at the 2015 International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy

Symposium, Oregon State University, 2016 Marine Energy Technology Symposium, and the University

of Maine targeted at engaging and growing WEC-Sim user-community

• Providing hands-on demonstrations accelerated the learning curve and increased understanding of the

needs directly from community to incorporate them in the code developmentt

WEC-Sim experimental testing at

Hinsdale Wave Research Lab


ECM Framework and WEC WDRT:

• An efficient and risk-based numerical strategy for predicting system

design load and a set of tools for environmental characterization,

extreme response statistics, fatigue, and equivalent design wave

analysis were developed

• The framework and toolbox helps to reduce WEC design uncertainty

and thereby minimize the investment risk

Industry Support Tasks

• Worked with M3 Wave to identify the cause, and investigate possible

solutions for, scouring underneath and surrounding the M3 Wave

device and thereby improve the system’s performance and reliability

• Working presently with Oscilla Power and Ecomerit to analyze their

WEC’s system design loads

Accomplishments and Progress (ECM)

The ECM workshop (Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2014)

The ECM workshop was held to review the current state of knowledge on numerical and physical ECM for

WECs, including knowledge leveraged from other floating and offshore systems, and investigation in to how

these methodologies could be improved.

Search for extreme

events using WDRT

Computational fluid dynamics simulations of a WEC in focused waves


Project Plan and Schedule

Project Initiation and Completion Dates

• WEC-Sim development began in FY13 and will end at the end of FY17

• The ECM project began in Q2 FY14 and will end at the end of FY17

• Industry FOA support (presented as part of ECM) began in FY16 and will end in FY17

Delayed and Slipped Milestones

• FY15 Q3 ECM: CFD simulations for the DNV-GL proposed NUWAVE computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

benchmarking project were canceled due to project suspension by DNV-GL

• FY15 Q3 WEC-Sim: The first phase of the validation wave tank testing was delayed due to contracting

issues, and was completed in Q1 FY16

• FY16 Q4 WEC-Sim: The release of the validation wave tank testing data through the MHK-DR was

delayed due to support for the Wave Energy Prize project, and completed in Q1 FY17

Go/No-Go Decisions

• FY15 Q3 WEC-Sim: The WEC-Sim team advised against moving WEC-Sim away from a MATLAB platform

to a fully open-source platform. Instead, it was recommended that future efforts focus on reviewing and

adapting numerical modeling methods for novel types of WEC device.

• FY15 Q3 ECM: The ECM team recommended against an ECM testing campaign in FY16

• FY16 Q3 ECM: Based on a meeting with DOE HQ, an ECM research plan for FY17 has been outlined


Project Budget

Budget Notes

• FY16: $100k was transferred from another project as carryover, but is included here as BA as it is new funding to the project.

Project Spending

• 82% of current project budget has been expended.

• The budget was split ~50/50 between NREL and Sandia.

• The budget includes $500k for industry-support projects (Funding Opportunity Announcements [FOAs])

• These costs include the expense of numerical model development, wave tank testing, high-performance CFD simulation models, and hosting workshops and training classes

Budget History

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016

DOE Cost-Share DOE Cost-Share DOE Cost-Share

$1,725k $0 $2,338k $0 $2,314k $0


Research Integration and Collaboration

Partners, Subcontractors, and Collaborators

Joint Partnership: NREL and SNL

Subcontracts: Oregon State University, Andrews-Cooper, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory, and

University of Texas at Austin

Communications and Technology Transfer

Open-Source Codes

• WEC-Sim: Available at https://github.com/WEC-Sim/WEC-Sim. The WEC-Sim site has ~170 unique visits

per week, and 20+ pull requests (representative of contributions from outside collaborators) since 2014.

• The WEC Design Response Toolbox: Available at https://github.com/WEC-Sim/WDRT

WEC-Sim Usage from 11/28-12/8

https://github.com/WEC-Sim/WEC-Sim






https://github.com/WEC-Sim/WDRT






Research Integration and Collaboration

Communications and Technology Transfer (Continued) Publications, Presentations and Other Technical Meetings

• Results and accomplishments from the Wave Energy Converter Modeling project have been documented

in journals and presented at international conferences, including OMAE, International Society of Offshore

and Polar Engineers, European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, Marine Energy Technology

Symposium, IEEE, OCEANS, and IEEE Power & Energy Society, with a total of 20+ publications and

10+ news articles

• A webinar of the ECM methodology was given for the Marine Energy Council in Q4 FY16

• A roundtable meeting with researchers from the Office of Naval Research community, NREL, and SNL

has been scheduled for Q2 FY17

Industry Feedback

• From OPT industry support project that utilized WEC-Sim: “Through the collaboration, we were able

to obtain valuable insight on the performance of some of our float configurations in order to further

optimize their design and performance in terms of maximizing their wave energy capture”


WEC-Sim (available at: https://wec-sim.github.io/WEC-Sim/publications.html)

• Y. Yu, M. Lawson, K. Ruehl, and C. Michelen, “Development and Demonstration of the

WEC-Sim Wave Energy Converter Simulation Tool,” 2nd Marine Energy Technology

Symposium, Seattle, WA, 2014.

• Y. Yu, Y. Li, K. Hallett, and C. Hotimsky, “Design and Analysis for a Floating Oscillating

Surge Wave Energy Converter,” OMAE 2014, San Francisco, CA, 2014.

• M. Lawson, Y. Yu, A. Nelessen, K. Ruehl, and C. Michelen, “Implementing Nonlinear

Buoyancy and Excitation Forces in the WEC-Sim Wave Energy Converter Modeling Tool,”

OMAE 2014, San Francisco, CA, 2014.

• K. Ruehl, C. Michelen, S. Kanner, M. Lawson, and Y. Yu, “Preliminary Verification and

Validation of WEC-Sim, an Open-Source Wave Energy Converter Design Tool,” OMAE

2014, San Francisco, CA, 2014.

• M. Lawson, Y.-H. Yu, K. Ruehl, and C. Michelen, “Improving and Validating the WEC-Sim

Wave Energy Converter Code,” 3rd Marine Energy Technology Symposium, DC, 2015.

• N. Tom, M. Lawson, and Y. Yu, “Demonstration of the Recent Additions in Modeling

Capabilities for the WEC-Sim Wave Energy Converter Design Tool," OMAE 2015, St.

John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, 2015.

• R. So, A. Simmons, T. Brekken, K. Ruehl, and C. Michelen, “Development of PTO-SIM: A

Power Performance Module for the Open-Source Wave Energy Converter Code WEC-SIM,”

OMAE 2015, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, 2015.

• M. Lawson, B. Garzon, F. Wendt, Y. Yu, and C. Michelen, “COER Hydrodynamics Modeling

Competition: Modeling the Dynamic Response of a Floating Body Using the WEC-SIM and

FAST Simulation Tools,” OMAE 2015, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, 2015.

• N. Tom, M. Lawson, and Y. Yu, “Recent Additions in the Modeling Capabilities for the WEC-

Sim-v1.1 Wave Energy Converter Design Tool,” ISOPE, Kona, HI, 2015.

• R. So, S. Casey, S. Kanner, A. Simmons, and Brekken, T. K. A., “PTO-Sim: Development of

a Power Take Off Modeling Tool for Ocean Wave Energy Conversion,” IEEE PES, 2015.

• A. Simmons, T. Brekken, P. Lomonaco, and C. Michelen, “Creating a Dynamometer for

Experimental Validation of Power Take-Off Forces on a Wave Energy Converter,” IEEE

SusTech, 2015.

• A. Combourieu, M. Lawson, A. Babarit, K. Ruehl, A. Roy, R. Costello, P. L. Weywada, and

H. Bailey, “WEC3: Wave Energy Converters modeling Code Comparison project,” EWTEC

2015, Nantes, France, 2015.

• B. Bosma, K. Ruehl, A. Simmons, B. Gunawan, P. Lomonaco, and C. Kelley, “WEC-Sim

Phase 1 Validation Testing—Experimental Setup and Initial Results,” OMAE 2016, Busan,

Korea, 2016.

• K. Ruehl, C. Michelen, B. Bosma, and Y.-H. Yu, “WEC-Sim Phase 1 Validation Testing—

Numerical Modeling of Experiments,” OMAE 2016, Busan, Korea, 2016.

• Sirnivas S., Yu Y.-H., Hall M., and Bosma B., “Coupled Mooring Analyses for the WEC-Sim

Wave Energy Converter Design Tool,” OMAE 2016, Busan, Korea, 2016.

ECM (available at: http://wec-sim.github.io/WDRT/publications.html)

• R.G. Coe, C. Michelen, A. Eckert-Gallup, Y. Yu and J. van Rij, “WDRT: A Toolbox for

Design-Response Analysis of Wave Energy Converters,” 4th Marine Energy Technology

Symposium, Washington, DC, 2016.

• E. Quon, A. Platt, Y.-H. Yu, and M. Lawson, “Application of the Most Likely Extreme

Response Method for Wave Energy Converters,” OMAE 2016, Busan, Korea, 2016.

• A. C. Eckert-Gallup, C. J. Sallaberry, A. R. Dallman, and V. S. Neary, “Application of

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Improved Joint Probability Distributions to the

Inverse First-Order Reliability Method (I-FORM) for Predicting Extreme Sea States,” Ocean

Engineering 112, 307–19, 2016.

• C. Michelen, and R. Coe, “Comparison of Methods for Estimating Short-Term Extreme

Response of Wave Energy Converters, ” IEEE OCEANS 2015, Washington, D.C., 2015.

• Y.-H. Yu, J. Van Rij, R. G. Coe, and M. Lawson, “Development and Application of a

Methodology for Predicting Wave Energy Converters Design Load,” OMAE 2015, St. Johns,

Canada, 2015.

• A. C. Eckert-Gallup, C. J. Sallaberry, A. R. Dallman, and V. S. Neary, “Modified Inverse

First Order Reliability Method (I-FORM) for Predicting Extreme Sea States,” Tech. Rep.

SAND2014-17550, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, 2014.

• R. Coe, V. Neary, M. Lawson, Y.-H. Yu, and J. Weber, “Extreme Conditions Modeling

Workshop Report," Tech. Rep. NREL/ TP-5000-62305 SNL/ SAND2014-16384R, 2014.

• R. G. Coe, and V. S. Neary, “Review of Methods for Modeling Wave Energy Converter Survival

in Extreme Sea States,” 2nd Marine Energy Technology Symposium, Seattle, WA, 2014.

Research Integration and Collaboration List of Project Publications

https://wec-sim.github.io/WEC-Sim/publications.html







http://wec-sim.github.io/WDRT/publications.html






Next Steps and Future Research

FY17/Current Research WEC-Sim: Cultivate a broader WEC-Sim user/developer base and transfer ownership of WEC-Sim, including

future developments and code maintenance, to industry developers and academic researchers to provide a

well-validated foundation for the future technology innovation needs

ECM

• Perform design load case studies to formulate a cohesive repeatable methodology for ECM analysis that

can be adopted by the WEC community

• Complete industry support FOA projects with reliable and survival analyses of the awardee WECs to help

them accelerate the technology development by minimizing the design-loading uncertainty and potential

deployment risk and establishing confidence to move the design concept forward

Educational Organization Support

• Work with universities and student organizations to establish an organization, and funding method, for

supporting ocean renewable energy–related education in the United States

Proposed Future Research • Lightweight composites, flexible materials, and innovative power take-offs and mooring designs are

potential for WEC developers to further reduce levelized cost of energy and increase reliability

• To address the needs to look into these multi-physics challenges, modeling approaches are proposed: Simplified multi-physics design optimization models

Coupling of numerical and physical modeling

High-fidelity CFD/finite element analysis models to capture complex nonlinear phenomena

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly

owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security

Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 with the

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Funding for the work was provided by the DOE Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind and Water Power Technologies Office

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Computational fluid dynamics simulation of WEC in … | Program Name or Ancillary Text eere.energy.gov Computational fluid dynamics simulation of WEC in focused waves Water Power Technologies